San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1887-10-13
A HARD BARGAIN.
BY WALTER BEsANT.

| come AFTER her. Ihey wrote her notes,
they lay in wait for her, they sent her
flowers; but what with old Kerrans and
myself, to say nothing of the other mem.
bers of the company, they might as well
have tried to get at a Peri in Paradise.
drew pretty well too. / was-a man Of
| 70 and more may say so without being ac
cused of vanity-I was a good looking
young fellow; you would hardly believe
what quantities of letters and billets douX
came TO me. i had dozens, but Juliet
found and tore them all up There they
| were; the note on rose ColOred note paper,
with violet ink, beginning with Hand
| soonest and nOblest Of men, and ending
with Your fair unknown, Araminta."
| There was the letter from the middle aged
widow, with taste for the drama and an
| income; and there was the vilely spelled
note from the foolish little milliner, who
had fallen in love with the Romeo of a
barn. Perhaps ladies are more sensible
| now. At all events, their letters were
thrown away upon me, because / was in
love already, head over ears, and with
Juliet
Juliet handed over her notes to her
father, who found out their writers, and
made them take boxes and bespeak plays
So that all Juliet's lovers got was the
privilege of paying more than other people,
for the girl was as good as she was pretty
"a rarer combination of qualities on the
stage fifty years ago than now. She was
tall and in those days, slender. Later on
she took after her mother; but who would
have thought that so graceful girl would
ever arrive at fourteen stone? Her eyes
and hair were black-eyes that never lost
their luster; and hair which, though it
turned gray in later years, was then like
silken net, when it was let down, to catch
the hearts of lovers. OF course she knew
that she was pretty; what pretty woman
does not? and of course, too, she did not
know and would not understand the power
of her own beauty; what pretty woman
does? And because it was the very worst
thing she could do for herself, she fell in
love with me.
Her father knew it and meant to stop it
from the beginning; but he was not a man
to do things in hurry, and so we went on
in FOOLS paradise, enjoying the stolen
kisses and talking of the sweet time to
come when we should be married. One
hight-I was Romeo-I was so carried
away with passion that l acted for once
naturally and unconventionally. There
was full house; the performance was so
much out of the common that the people
were astOnished and forgot to applaud.
Juliet caught the infection of my passion,
and for once we acted well, because we
acted from the heart. Never but that
once, believe, has "Romeo and Juliet
been performed by a pair who felt every
word they said. 1t was only in long,
low room, q sort of corn exchange or town
hail. in a little country town, but the
memory of that night is sacred to me.
You know the words
-,,,
n that 7 T 1aT o,Io we NO., tbat had
That might touch that cbeekI
A., .1,
Anu 'no'e
q, for talconers voice,
10 lure TINS tassel gentle BACK again
PHnuase ~ Ioarse anu may iot sPeaA aiouu'
Al n,oi,o No. oirI ton,,'a 49, hoarS. .hor
mine
With repetition of my Romeo,
Cn1ordidIr ,ro ,,oro tbor,
VII go "" 80 So, ola aa 7 am Tho rooo1
Iootion of thasa 1inoS anJ tba tboro,bt ~
tbot niobt YARN NV bnart StiiI a1d fro
fontIo ,,Isa +or5ht ~ 'tla - 20
NV! ,,,o,,JobIJ Sbo 80 f. 49,.
II;l;et aHd ,,,or1d s,,ooand on 10 sto,i I'll -
onII, "a. fotbou I'D Iot Inr Dc 49, -
StroiG,btIocoJ Ali be should boyo soon
tba to,,,ntotioro ,rIiob boeo+ a ,,irI ~, 40
Stoo,o II, NV tino We are pnritons now
oIneNst
And a GOOD thing too II 10 TINA for
mo to own il
VIII ala KorrorO ,YoS IN tbo front
1ooLin1, oftar tbe nnonoT as ,IS,,oi ond
oII,,n,,5 ,,itb ono o,-a ~, tho s+or,o to Haa
bnTr he Jaro,btor I, o ,at+jnn ~, " IL
,,,os n,,zzIoJ 7 tbinI, 70 49, ont +bo
r,ao,inr, ', OF tLo ,nocnl,stor,ad fro bI,t bo
namn TO tho concInSion tbnt e InIiot was
CrairC, 70 ro,,1aiI, NJ tit j,,stood -
SonnI,,ino, Mr. norti1oar Voy,osso,I, I,,,I,
stoC,a ,,enoN bo bad Lo++or i,1+orfaro ~
o'po 'i'''''e'' NV i''''' '''A INV '''
Go oftor tho nIoy and over tho dor,os-
rio Snnnar tobio Ia had II ont Nth he
daugbtar
inlet srvoro tbo+ ,o+bi,c, sbor1d in
d,,oo bo,. to ,I'o,rr, r, 49, tS '-'AN
t.pioSs tba lriylTi oaiJ hor fo+hor. ct
don't wont Won To n,arrH onyboJy at oil ),
T,Iiot JacIorod tbo+ sba he ,,oTIor ,a,-or
would foroot mo
ct doDit Want Won, 70 for,ot hin, ~ Mr.
Kerrans reniied mRema4har him ne
nTcb as Won Iiten i-''-'
inlet announced her intention Of retir-
inc from the STAGE and GOING into q con-
va1t Tbare yere no conyents in Enc.
land in 1904 go that tho threat was not
co sarions as II would he now
Her father nromised bnr tbo+ ,vbo, tho
cornnanv nossed bv any reonectobIo CON
vent ON The roaJ be woTld certoinIv knoct
Mt the door and inomire obont the accom-
modation and the terms
~Torr, he said caressinq his weaniny
daughter do Won think want tn he